Not Applicable.
Not Applicable.
The present invention relates to a toothbrush. Regular brushing of teeth is essential for maintaining good oral hygiene. The main objective of brushing is to remove plaque and food debris from the surfaces of the teeth, the gingivae and to simulate or massage the gingivae. While brushing the facial surfaces, it is desirable to clean the facial interdental areas, the facial surfaces of the teeth and the facial gingiva all at the same time. Similarly, while cleaning the lingual surfaces, it is desirable to clean the lingual interdental areas, lingual surfaces of the teeth and the lingual gingiva all at the same time. Interdental are are difficult to clean without exerting excessive pressure on the gingivae. Interdental spaces and the interdental gingivae are V-shaped and are best cleaned by V-shaped ripples designed in the bristles of the toothbrush.
In the prior art toothbrushes which have ripples, the ripples are located on the front surface. They have a limited practical application in their ability to clean the interdental areas and clean and massage the gingivae at the same time without exerting excessive pressure on the gingivae. U.S. Pat. No. 2186005 issued Jan. 9, 1940 discloses a toothbrush in which ripples are located on The front surface, the tufts of bristles are arranged in a circular manner with a hollow in The center.
German Patent No. DE4010671A1 issued Aug. 23, 1990 and U.S.Pat. No. 1981657 issued Nov. 20, 1934 discloses toothbrushes which have triangular shaped right side and left side tufts of bristles but the apex of the triangular tufts are not pointing towards the sides and hence the bristles do not give characteristic V-shaped ripples to the right side and left side of the bristles as seen in the present invention
With foregoing in mind, one of the objectives of the present invention is to pack the interdental spaces with large number of bristles without exerting excessive pressure on the gingivae so that the bristles can be pushed deep into the interdental space and thus can clean the interdental areas thoroughly. Another objective of the present invention is to clean the interdental areas and to clean and massage the gingivae uniformly all at the same time, for examplexe2x80x94while cleaning the facial surface of the teeth; the facial interdental areas, the facial surface of the teeth and the facial gingiva all are cleaned at the same time without excessive pressure on the gingivae.
In the present invention, the V-shaped ripples are located at the right side and left side of the bristle field leaving the front surface of the bristle field without any ripples, instead the front surface is uniformly convex from the right side to the left side. Since the V-shaped ripples are located at the sides and the front surface is uniformly convex, the bristles can be packed and pushed into the interdental spaces from the sides without exerting excessive pressure on the gingivae thus acheiving thorough cleaning of the interdental areas and at the same time cleaning and uniformly massaging the gingivae. All this is acheived by a single brush movement i.e. placing the bristles at an angle at the junction of the gingiva and the tooth and aligning the V-shaped ripples into the interdental spaces and moving the bristles towards the occlusal surface of the teeth. When compared to the prior art toothbrushes, the present invention cleans the interdental areas more thoroughly and more conveniently.